Mariners activate 1B Ty France from 10-day IL, designate C Seby Zavala for assignment

All heeled up, France rejoins a crowded DH group.

The Seattle Mariners announced this morning that they have activated 1B Ty France from the 10-day injured list. To clear a space on the 26-man active roster, they’ve designated backup C Seby Zavala for assignment.

France was sidelined with a hairline fracture on his heel/foot from a hit by pitch, but the nature of the injury was evidently minor enough as to be manageable or fully healed within a very brief rejuvenation period. His return creates an interesting conglomerate of options for the M’s, with Seattle opting to retain 1B Tyler Locklear instead of optioning him to continue carrying Zavala. The move leaves DH/C Mitch Garver to be the primary backup catcher, a move at odds with the initial goal of his signing, however clearly something the club has been telegraphing for weeks with his increased utilization behind the dish and Zavala’s complete abandonment.

After 43 games in 45 days, Seattle has four scheduled days off in the next 28 days, followed by the All-Star Break, likely leaving the M’s with some confidence that they’ll be able to give a taxed Cal Raleigh (3rd in games played among catchers, 2nd in innings caught) some built-in breathers, while using Garver perhaps once a week behind the dish. Inherently, the move strengthens the roster, though Garver’s knock in years past has been durability, so it is a move with some risk for the added strain it confers.

Still, the result is a Mariners roster with a few extra ostensibly quality bats. Garver, France, Locklear, Mitch Haniger, and Dominic Canzone will likely rotate through the DH spot, while France and Locklear take turns at first base and Haniger likely assumes a greater bench role. The alignment is peculiar, given that all five players have at some stage been the club’s hottest and coolest hitter save for the fresh-faced Locklear, but “too many decent hitters” is a problem this Mariners club has no business grousing about.

Zavala’s tenure with Seattle might not be up, as he could clear waivers given his dismal offensive performance over the limited run he’s received this year that stretches into 2023 as well. As it stands, Raleigh and Garver are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster, leaving veteran Michael Pérez in place to be the club’s 3rd man up, which is to say the likely replacement at catcher for Seattle in the event of an injury is all but certainly not in the organization at present. It would be astonishing if Seattle were to give Harry Ford the Mike Zunino treatment and call him up briefly and at a very young age just for backup backstop purposes, and I do not expect anything of the sort to occur.